Improving induction and onboarding programmes to achieve results.(CROSSROADS)

ACCORDING to to the latest survey from talent retention specialists Performability Pty Ltd, in a recession many organisations should be having a new onboarding programme.

Performability recently assessed recruits at the beginning and at the end of each programme and found that organisations often miss the mark when it comes engaging and supporting their star recruits.

"Some programmes we looked at did more harm than good," Jayne Marsh from Performability said. "Even new starters who were optimistic at the outset, left induction programmes unsure of how to connect with others, unable to express their concerns or engage others in important plans and decisions. New starters who aren't inducted in the appropriate way decrease their levels of Emotional Intelligence within the first three months of starting."

The research also revealed that many candidates who completed traditional induction programmes lacked an understanding of expectations and key performance indicators, KPIs, and did not receive networking support.

"In a landscape of budget cuts and intense competition, it is even more critical to retain and quickly develop talent. Recruits are expected to hit the ground running, yet our research show they simply don't get the support or resources they need," Jayne said. "Consequently, they are more likely to feel stressed and less able to cope with the daily pressure of their roles. In the organisations we surveyed, there was a 20 per cent turnover of new starters at the end of six months."

With this in mind, Performability set about developing a technique for onboarding and transitioning people and trialed it across a wide variety of organisations with good results. Jayne said: "The results of the programme we developed enabled new starters to increase emotional intelligence, productivity and engagement with the organisation within their first three months of starting. To assist with this process we engage the direct line manager to build their capability to induct their new starter. All organisations we researched, failed to engage the direct line manager when inducting the new starter which leads to very poor outcomes."--CT

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